Starting a home based business is scary!A home based business can be one of the most rewarding, yet scariest, events of your life. It is very risky, but the potential rewards can be very appealing. This post explores tips to help make your endeavor successful.Make success your goal! When you are starting a home based business, it is important to keep your focus and have a plan. Figure out what you want to accomplish with your business! Determine what success will mean for you.Here are tips for starting a home based business successfully:Don’t let your home business prevent you from networking. Starting a home based business means you’ll have to increase your networking efforts. You’ll need to look for local events where you can show off your business. You’ll be able to meet potential customers and network with businesses you may want to affiliate with.Thinking of running a business from your home? Be sure to research the price ranges of the products or services you will market. Also, know how much you need to make from each sale and how much your clients will pay for your products or services.Do not let your home business blog or website distract customers from your home business! Otherwise, your efforts will suffer! Make sure the blog or website has minimal distractions. You want customers to want to digest the information on your blog and explore it easily.If you are planning on starting a home based business where clients will visit your home, you will need to purchase business insurance. Your business policy will provide coverage for your business assets and liability coverage in case a customer gets injured on your property.When working from home, don’t forget to eat properly! Eating healthy foods is very important to your brain! It will keep your mind clear, efficient, and functioning. Also, don’t over-eat. It’s awfully tempting to raid the kitchen during the day.When starting a home based business, be sure to remind yourself that it is still a business. Keep all receipts for home business expenses, like mortgage, phone, energy, and insurance bills. A percentage of these expenses for maintaining your home can be deducted when you file your taxes. Also, make certain when you begin a home business to consult with an accountant to ensure that you adhere to all local, state, and federal laws regarding starting a home based business. It is essential to keep accurate financial records. An accountant can advise you about available tax benefits.It is sometimes easy to become overwhelmed when running a business from home. Be sure to take time for yourself. Work “me” time into your work schedule so you don’t forget to take some time off. Try not to forget where work ends and family time begins.There are several factors that can increase your chances of success when starting a home based business, despite the hundreds of variables at play. This post is just a fraction of the information you will need to gather as you continue increasing the traffic of your home business blog or website.Does starting a home based business sound right for you?

Estimating your assets value:

Typically, one of the first questions a business owner will ask me is, “how much will the assets bring at an auction”. After taking the time to review the assets, the auctioneer should give the client a conservative estimate of the sale based upon his experience and the current market trends. It is important that the company give realistic expectations so the seller can make informed decisions based on their best interest.

Compensation and Expenses:

Is the company you are considering working for you or against you? The agreement you decide may determine this.

A business owner should carefully consider how the auction company is compensated. The most common commission structures include: straight commission, outright purchase of assets, guaranteed base with a split above to both auctioneer and seller, guaranteed base with anything above going to auctioneer or a flat fee structure.

In a straight commission structure, the company is paid an agreed upon percentage of the total sale.

In an outright purchase agreement, the auctioneer simply becomes your end buyer. The company purchases your assets and relocates them. While this can be an option in some unique situations, keep in mind that they will want to purchase your assets at a very reduced price to make a profit at a later date.

In a minimum base guarantee, the auction company guarantees the seller that the auction will generate a minimum amount of sales. Anything above that amount either goes to the auction company or split with the seller. While a seller might feel more comfortable doing an auction knowing that he is guaranteed a minimum amount for his sale, keep in mind that it is the best interest of the auction company to secure a minimum base price as low as possible in order reduce their financial liability to the seller and secure higher compensation for the sale.

In a flat fee structure, the auctioneer agrees to show up for the sale and call the auction. There is no incentive for the auctioneer to get the best prices for your assets. The auction company is compensated regardless of the outcome of your sale.

What is the best option for business owners? In my experience, an agreed upon straight commission structure. This puts the responsibility on the auction company to offer the best outcome for everyone involved. There is an incentive for the auction company to work hard for both parties, set up and run a professional sale, get the highest bid and sell every item on the inventory. Successful auctions translate to a higher bottom line for both the seller and the auction company.

Auction Expenses:

In most auction agreements the expenses to conduct an auction are passed to the seller. If the auction company pays for the expenses, it is simply absorbed in higher commission rates.

All expenses should be agreed upon in advance in a written contract. Typical expenses will include the costs of advertising, labor, legal fees, travel, equipment rentals, security, postage and printing. A reputable auction company will be able to estimate all expenses based upon their experience in previous auctions. An agreement should be actual costs charged as expenses, not an estimated amount.

Advertising is typically the highest cost in conducting an auction. The auction company needs to set up an advertising campaign that will promote the sale to its best advantage and not overspend to simply advertise the auction company.

Once the auction is complete, the auction company should provide a complete breakdown of all expenses to the seller, including copies of receipts within the auction summary report.

Buyer’s Premium:

What is a buyer’s premium? If you attend auctions regularly, you are very familiar with this term. The auction company charges a fee to the buyer when they buy an item at auction.

The buyer’s premium has been around since the 1980′s and is standard auction practice. It was first used by auction houses to help offset costs of running brick and mortar permanent auction facilities. Since then, it has spread to all aspects of the auction industry. It is prominent in online auctions and allows auction companies to cover added expenses incurred from online sales.

It is the responsibility of the auction company to provide clear disclosure of the buyer’s premium to both the buyers and the sellers. Those not familiar with auctions are often taken back by the buyer’s premium. They looked upon it as an under handed way for the auction company to make more money. Reputable auction companies will provide full disclosure within the auction contract, advertisement and bidder registration.

Typically, an auction company will charge online buyers a higher buyer’s premium percentage than those attending an auction in person. Extra fees are incurred with online bidding and are charged accordingly to online buyers. This provides the seller a level playing field for both online buyers and those attending the auction in person. Without the buyer’s premium, there is no way to do this.

Pre-Sales:

We’ve all been there. We’re looking forward to attending an auction only to find that some items were sold prior to the auction date.

As an auctioneer with over thirty-six years of experience, I can honestly state that pre-sales will hurt an auction. When a company decides to liquidate their assets, it is easy to sell off high-end pieces of equipment through online sources, equipment vendors or to other businesses. The seller receives instant cash and avoids paying a commission to an auction company.

Auctioneer’s find themselves appearing to acting in a self-serving capacity when potential clients say they are planning to sell off parts of their inventory prior to an auction. It’s hard not to consider the auctioneer’s commission when they warn you not to pre-sell anything. Yes, the auctioneer wants to earn a commission on those sales but it is more important that the auctioneer protect the sale from potential negative backlash that comes from pre-selling. The buying public knows when an auction has been “cherry picked” prior to the sale and it reflects in their bidding. It becomes a sale of “leftovers” and that impacts prices.

A buyer who purchases prior to the auction usually does not attend the sale. They already bought equipment at a good price with no competition. If they do attend the auction, they tend to let others know of their great pre-sale purchases which again, impacts prices and the overall excitement of the sale.

It is important to understand that auctions work best with a complete inventory. You want competition on your higher end equipment. The easy to sell items make it possible to gain respectable prices for hard to sell items.

When a business owner decides to liquidate their equipment assets, there is only one opportunity to do it right. Hiring a reputable auction company will assist you with a professional, orderly and timely liquidation.

There are a lot of advantages one can enjoy if you are able to establish your own business, especially if you conduct it at the comforts of your own home. With a home based business you will be the one to dictate your own schedule and more importantly, you will have the opportunity to earn the kind of money you want. It should be noted though that starting a business requires a lot of hard work and time as well, even though it would be done at home. It is best that you follow certain steps, so that it would serve as your guide in jump starting your home business.The very first thing that you need to do in starting your home based business is to determine which among the many options you want to try. There are several home based income opportunities you can choose from these days, and choosing which one you want is actually one of the crucial steps you need to take.In choosing your home based income opportunity, you need to know that you can either choose to go the internet way or conduct a business at home offline. If you are more comfortable conducting a business at home operated offline, then you need to choose whether you want to sell items or provide services. If you are a sales kind of person, then you need to choose a product to sell, or make one. Selling certain products at home is not as difficult as it seems, especially if you have a designated place you can conduct your business on. For example, you can always hold garage sales, so that you can conveniently do it at your own garage. Aside from that, you can also sell pastries or deserts, which you can simply place inside your refrigerators. With this, you actually do not need to have an actual place to conduct your business, since people will just drop by to buy your products. On top of that, you can soon accept orders, so that you will have more chances of expanding your business.Providing services is another way of starting a business based at home. You can provide tutoring; dog walking, or handyman services at home. Aside from that if you are quite a techie person, then offering to troubleshoot and fix computers would also be a good way to earning some money and eventually start your business. You need to make sure that you provide high quality services, so that you will be able to gain more clients. With more clients you have, you will be able to expand your business in just a short period of time. The important thing about providing services is to identify your skills and talents, which you think would be able to help people. Therefore, starting today, you should try to get to know yourself better and identify them.Once you have determined the kind of home based business opportunity you want, you need to make people around the neighborhood be aware that your business exists. You can do this by applying certain marketing techniques to promote your business. You can make use of banners and post them on strategic points in your location, so that people in your community would soon call or visit you. Tell your friends and relatives about your business, so that they can also help in spreading the news.